0 to Z of Playstation 1 Games - Atlantis The Lost Empire

       

Atlantis The Lost Empire is a 3D action platformer with shooting elements and not to be confused with the Cryo Interactive Atlantis series, the game is based off of the 2001 Disney movie of the same name. Developed by Eurocom Developments and published by Sony Interactive Entertainment America.

The game released on the 12^th of June 2001 in North America to tie in with the Disney movie which premièred on the 3rd of the Month and released around the US on the 15^th of June, the game would release towards the end of the year in Europe. Long after everyone had forgotten about the movie the game was ported over to the Playstation Vita in 2012 as well as Android in the same year the game also received a release on the Game Boy Color/Advance..

Notable staff members involved with Atlantis The Lost Empire producer for Sony Interactive America Simon Roberts went on to work on the Ape Escape franchise as a producer, more recently he was senior producer of Gran Turismo 6, God of War Ascension and Escape Plan.

The gameplay is very action based similar to that of Tomb Raider, the X button is your main button for most actions such as jumping, shooting, swimming and driving when In control of a vehicle, the game also has melee attack which is activated using the Square button, as well as a special range attack using the O button, this attack differs depending on which of the four characters you are playing as, the button also acts as a dive button when in water.

Specific characters have unique traits for example Milo is the only playable character that can climb while pushing objects only Milo and Vinney are strong enough, Gatean resorts to throwing rocks as an offensive weapon while Audrey has flares that she shoots into the wall to help her see, she can also shoot down Stalactites.

Vincenzo also known as Vinney is the demolitions expert he uses dynamite to blow holes in the walls to open up hidden and blocked areas he also has access to hand grenades as offensive weapons, in addition to the expedition team there is an Atlantian who joins the party Princess Kida is the only member of the party who can safely pass Atlantian guards as well as activate Atlantian switches.

The game features a crystal mechanic for increasing the damage of Milo’s boomerang as well as having other effects such as Orange Crystals can be used to turn Milo’s boomerang into a Lightning boomerang while a Blue Crystal increased the range that Milo can throw his boomerang.

Other crystals have other effects Clear Crystals which you require at least 15 of them for this to work gives you an extra life, Other items such as Gold Hearts also give the player an extra life, health pickups are vital with med kits that restore 20pts of health while canned food will restore 10pts, antivenin will remove poison from a character. Atlantian symbols are also dotted around the levels, collecting these to spell out Atlantis will unlock the movie section of that particular level in the Movie view which is on the main menu for the game

Milo Thatch is a linguist who is fascinated by the story of the Lost City of Atlantis and that the city once ruled over the whole world, Milo sees this sees proof of this everywhere thanks to the inspiration of the stories that his grandfather use to tell him.

His grandfather was positive that the great city of Atlantis existed, that this great sunken empire did rule the world, but more importantly he still thought the city still existed that the city and its people were deep below the Earth surface.

Sadly Milo’s father died before he could prove any of his theories and suffered the sneers and the usual talking behind his back from his fellow scholars and colleagues, this is what has driven Milo to continue his grandfathers work and prove to the world and all of the sneerer's that his grandfather was right and not a ranting madman.

A journal by a man called Aziz, he claims to have found the fabled lost city of Atlantis, many believe this journal is just the rantings of a madman but Milo believes the journal to be accurate as he deciphers more and more of the journal he begins to believe more and more that Atlantis is real, he sets out accompanied by a team of experts in a submarine journey that will either see them return as heroes for discovering the truth about Atlantis or go down in the history books as some of the many mad men that have claimed Atlantis is real.

Critically the game was not badly received with it receiving review ranging from a couple of good scores down to above average scores, of the critic reviews I have access to the game does not drop below a 60 rating which comes from a couple of publications.

Anyway back to the best scores first which comes from Absolute Playstation who rated this game at a very respectable 85, the review is a clear Disney fan who calls the game a good old fashioned pick up and play type of game that kids and those who are kids at heart will enjoy, the review also praised the short learning curve gameplay that should deliver hours of fun.

For the next highest review score which is a 79 we head to Germany and 4Players.de who also praised the gameplay on offer as well as the sound and graphics of the game they also praised the game for appealing to both run and jump fans as well as those who prefer a bit more action.

A couple of 75 rated review are next up the first from IGN who called the game a really fast paced 3D Action Adventure game that brings enough new elements to deserve a second look if you are still in the market for this style of game on the system. They did have criticism though one was how the game handled the character switching with the review saying it could have been handled better however as it is it still keeps the gameplay varied.

The second 75 rated review comes from Game Informer Magazine, however this publication also appears on a 72 rated review, after cross checking with GameRanking.com I believe the 72 rated review Is the correct one, in which they compare the game to Tomb Raider as well and seemed to be positive on the six playable character approach and praised the differing gameplay styles with the mini games and vehicles stages.

Dropping down to the lowest scores the game received we find two 60 rated review the first from German publication Gamezone, who praised the gameplay as being very nice, the game also having that Disney style but were critical of it looking a little plain. The review also praised the challenging puzzles however they could only recommend the game to younger players.

All Game Guide also scored the game at a 60/100  the review commenting on how the game could have been a bit more complex, but what is there has enough interesting ideas for younger gamers as well as fans of the movie, while the game is short only three or four hours at least it has some character and life of its own.

This is the part of 0 to Z where is visit four online retailers and see what the availability of the title is, and what price you would be looking at if you wanted to pick this title up, the sites that I will be using for this are Amazon.com, eStarland.com, retrogames.co.uk and Gamedude.com I know the last one is very location specific, but from a podcast I listen to, I’ve heard they have a huge stock of older games, Ebay has now been dropped unless the game is unavailable at other retailers.

So lets get down to business with Gamedude who will give you $2 if you are looking to trade in your copy of Atlantis The Lost Empire, if on the other hand you are looking to pick up a copy of the game from Gamedude you will be looking at a $6 outlay.

Moving on to Retrogames.co.uk next who sadly don’t stock this title so we will quickly move on to eStarland.com where we find the game listed but both new and used copies of the game are currently out of stock. With a new copy usually priced up at $14.95 while a used copy is usually priced at between $5.10 and $8.50.

Lastly we have Amazon.com where we find a modest supply of the game available with used copies significantly more expensive than previous outlets with a majority of the used copies either disc only or the completeness of the copy not being guaranteed. For a complete copy of the game you will have to spend a minimum of $19.95 this price will increase to $25.54 once the shipping costs are added in.

If you are looking for a new copy of the game instead we find another significant price difference to eStarland who have the price for a new copy when stocked at $14.95, instead at Amazon the minimum price you are looking at is $44.78 with prices for a new copy reaching a high of over $70.

Written by

P J Gibbon